Bleach of Reincarnation
by brown phantom
Summary: Rukia comes to Karakura and Ichigo gets her powers. But this time they aren't the only human-shinigami team in town.
1. Chapter 1

My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. For as long as I could remember I've been able to see ghosts. I stopped thinking it was weird long ago. Now I just know not to talk about it to others outside of my family. Besides it's not like seeing ghosts has ever gotten me into trouble.

This is the story of how that changed for me. It all started on a normal day, then there was an unexpected arrival at my home. These people dragged me into a world.I never knew existed, and while this may sound strange, next started the best year of my life.

* * *

Ichigo Kurosaki was not what most people would consider normal. For starters he had natural orange hair despite being Japanese. Maybe he had some European history, like an ancestor from Germany or someplace. He participated in no extracurricular activities, and was prone to getting into fights at school. And that was ignoring his most personal secret.

'No respect for the dead. Wonder what they'd do if it was their memorial.' He thought, still a little miffed at some hooligans desecrating a memorial for a dead girl while the dead girl's spirit was right there.

Sure the hooligans didn't see the ghost, but he could. And that was reason enough for him to make it his business.

"Excuse me, but why did you attack those guys?" A brunette girl asked, having seen the beatdown.

Ichigo didn't recognize the girl at all, and since she wasn't dressed in his school uniform he doubted she went there anyway. Quite possibly someone from another part of Tokyo who just happened to be here. "See that?" He asked, pointing to a flower vase next to a post that had been knocked over and broken. Above it was a small photo of a young girl, tapped to the post.

"A girl died there sometime ago." The brunette noted. "And those guys almost ruined it?"

Ichigo nodded. "Let's just say I have little tolerance for those that disrespect the dead."

"I can respect that. Sorry for butting in." The girl said, then walked away. Feeling better, Ichigo did the same.

Later on with his home in sight, the teen chose to push these thoughts out of his minds and simply relax.

"I'm home." He said when he opened the door to the residence portion of the clinic that was the family business.

"Ichigo!" The loud excited voice of his father Isshin Kurosaki boomed, and not for the first time was accompanied by a physical attack that hopefully was intended to be more playful than it looked.

Since this sadly wasn't an uncommon occurrence, Ichigo was prepared to get out of the strike zone.

"What was that?" A horrified girl's voice asked, one that did not belong to one of Ichigo's sisters.

He looked up and saw that apparently he had two guests in his home, sitting on the couch. One of which he recognized. "Sakura? What brings you here? And where's Tatsuki or Orihime?"

"They're not here. This isn't just a simple visit." His classmate replied. This was Sakura Mamiya, a classmate of his. Not a real friend but more of an associate by association, since she was friends with his old martial arts buddy Tatsuki Arisawa and their mutual companion Orihime Inoue. She was similar to him in that she didn't really socialize much, but she at least never got into fights.

And next to her was a boy with red hair and wearing an old jumpsuit. He wore the same kind of expression Ichigo always wore, like he had never been taught how to smile.

"Hey, aren't you the new guy in class?" Ichigo asked, not remembering his name.

The boy nodded. "Rinne Rokudo."

"You've been missing a lot of classes."

Rinne showed no signs of regret at that. "I have bigger priorities."

"Which is part of why I asked him to come here." Sakura said. "You see, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but Rinne is homeless."

"How terrible." Yuzu, one of Ichigo's younger sisters, said. In her hands was a small black kitten that she was petting. It looked rather content to remain there.

"No offense, but how is this any of our business?" Karin, the other sister, asked, sounding more apathetic than she may have intended to.

Sakura looked surprised to hear that. "He's your cousin. How can you say it's none of your business?"

"Cousin?" Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin asked together.

Sakura blinked. "You didn't know?"

"Perhaps I should explain." Isshin said, walking towards the young group peacefully, as if his earlier assault never happened. "You see kids, I was adopted as a kid, and that gave me a brother that for reasons you're better off not knowing about. All I'll say is there's a reason I never bring him up. But Rinne is that man's son."

"So why is he homeless?" Karin asked.

"I'm not homeless. I've got a place to stay." Rinne insisted.

"But it's not a healthy place to live. There's no heating, no water, and technically you're not even allowed to be there. If you're caught you'll truly be homeless." Sakura reprimanded.

"You make it sound like he's sleeping in a shed or something." Karin commented.

Sakura did not respond, choosing to respect Rinne's pride a bit on this. If she could avoid spilling the truth that he pretty much was sleeping in a shed she would.

"Did something happen to Otou-san and Okaa-san?" Isshin asked.

"Jii-san has passed on and Baa-san has been forced to move back to her old home. She can't afford to support us both so I was trying to spare her the trouble." Rinne admitted.

"You lived with our grandparents?" Yuzu asked. "Did they give you this cute kitty?"

"Baa-san did. And yes." Rinne replied.

"What about your father?" Karin asked.

Rinne and Isshin both gained sour expressions. "You know what my old man did the day I was born?" Rinne asked with some resentment in his voice.

Isshin nodded. "Yeah, Okaa-san told me. She said he came to her like he wanted to show off his new son, but once she took you in her arms he ran off shouting 'He's your problem now!' and never looked back."

Everyone except Rinne was shocked to hear this. "You're kidding right?" Ichigo asked.

Isshin only gave his serious face, to better emphasize his disapproval. "Sabato had always been the kind of boy to shirk _any_ form of responsibility and I do mean any. It got really annoying and downright intolerable when he started stealing from everyone including family to pawn it. But to me he truly crossed the line when he actually stole Masako's engagement ring."

"He what?!" Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin asked loudly, making the kitten jump out of Yuzu's arms.

Isshin nodded. "I never got it back for her. Since then I've refused to have anything to do with him. And to this day I have to change our account passwords to prevent him from hacking him on a weekly basis."

"Surely he has his good points." Sakura suggested.

"The guy's a one man yakuza. I swear if it wasn't for the fact that Masako was able to kick his ass so many times he'd still be trying to show up and rob us blind." Isshin said bitterly. "But enough about that. Rinne needs a place to stay?"

"I have a place." Rinne insisted.

"Without any proper necessities and frankly it's only a matter of time until someone other than me knows where it is and tells you to leave." Sakura added.

"That settles it. Rinne is staying here." Isshin insisted.

"Just like that?" He asked.

"As long as you don't rob us. One thing around here goes missing and I'm kicking your ass." Isshin threatened.

Ichigo scoffed. "Oh please. The only way you can even get a hit on me is by catching me by surprise."

"And why were you even attacking your son in the first place?" Sakura asked, horrified by that scene she had seen.

"Long story short, I had to kick Sabato's ass a few times myself, and I'm still concerned that he will try to sneak in here. Guess you could say it's a force of habit."

"That's why I only ever enter here from the clinic entrance." Karin noted. "He wouldn't dare risk attacking someone like that with witnesses."

"Plus I think all the alien activity has got him paranoid." Yuzu added.

"Oh please, not that again." Karin, the expert in denial, denied.

"Haven't you seen all the footage of UFOs? What about the official reports? I'm even told there are some living in Tokyo."

Karin rolled her eyes. "Same policy I have with ghosts, I'm not convinced."

"But you actually see ghosts." The lighter-haired twin claimed.

"That doesn't mean I believe they're real." Karin stated.

"What's this about ghosts?" Sakura asked. Rinne looked interested too.

"Oh that's an interesting story." Isshin said with a grin. "This place used to be a mortuary, but I repurposed it into a clinic long ago. However, it appears sometimes we get an occasional ghost. And as a result of growing up here my kids can see them all the time."

"Not me." Yuzu corrected. "I actually just see blurs and hear whispers. It's Karin and Ichi-nii that see and hear them clearly."

"And thank you so much for blabbing about it Yuzu." Karin said sarcastically.

Sakura and Rinne looked to Ichigo then shared a look between themselves. Ichigo was certain they were judging him.

"We can convert the guest room into something for Rinne." Yuzu pointed out, changing the subject. "He can bring his stuff here tomorrow."

"If we hurry we could probably get it done tonight." Sakura mentioned.

"You may be right."

"If you insist, save it for after dinner." Yuzu requested. "We're having tonkatsu and oden."

Rinne and the black cat perked up, their interest sealed.

* * *

After dinner Rinne, Sakura, and the black cat left to get what few possessions the redhead boy had to his name. Rinne declined help, as Sakura was more than enough to assist him and he didn't really want them to see where he had been sleeping and feel sorry for them more.

Ichigo, in his own room now, could understand that. He could tell just from looking at his apparent cousin that Rinne and him had a lot in common. Both were distant from others but not because of attitude problems, rather as a point of pride. Ichigo hated being pitied, as the older brother of three and because he blamed himself for his mother's death he couldn't stand to have people think that he was incapable of being his true namesake, a strong single guardian. He was okay with being hassled as long as he wasn't pitied.

Rinne was likely the same. He was currently in a situation where pity was the only thing people could give him. Had Sakura not somehow found his family he would stay wherever he was until he had no choice not to.

"That reminds me, I got to talk to that girl about how she found us. Maybe Tatsuki had a hand in it?" He muttered to himself.

Then something caught his eyes, making him stop his train of thought. A black butterfly had somehow found its way into his room, and the windows were closed. It went to a wall and a large shadow appeared. From that shadow emerged a young woman with short black hair and a old fashioned black kimono set. And if that wasn't weird enough, she had a sword strapped to her waist and she looked like she wasn't even aware he was in the room.

"It's near." She said quietly to herself, walking around his room.

'I'm not putting up with this.' Ichigo said to himself, getting up and kicking this woman in the rear. Caught by surprise she stumbled and fell flat on her face. "Who the hell are you? What are you here to steal?"

The woman gave him a very surprised look. "You can see me?"

"You weren't even trying to hide. How stupid do you think I am?" Ichigo argued.

"Just my luck, I end up in a house with a sighted person." The woman groaned, getting up.

"You were expecting blind people to live here?" Ichigo asked.

"No, perhaps this will make it clear to you. I'm a shinigami. You shouldn't be able to see or hear or touch me. The fact that you can makes you a rare case among living people."

'Okay, this chick's crazier than Orihime on a sugar high.' Ichigo thought. "And you expect me to just believe this?"

The girl pointed her right index and middle fingers together at the strawberry blonde boy. "Bakudo Number One: Sai!" Next thing he knew, he couldn't move.

"What the heck?" He asked, struggling against invisible binds that he could feel but not see. The girl then kicked him as payback and stepped him into the floor.

"Little up mortal, I've got a job to do. And since you insist on getting in my way I have to keep you tied up like this. Now, just stay here and if I'm still in a good mood later I'll release you when I'm done as opposed to letting it fade away naturally." She warned, with an expression of mirth.

"What job?"

"What do you think a shinigami's job is?" She asked back. "I'm searching for a departed spirit. It's near here, but now I can't sense it anymore. It's like it's thrown up a filter over it's reiatsu."

"Well I can tell you there's no ghost around here. Believe me I would have seen one." Ichigo stated.

"Hmm..." The shinigami said as if thinking. "How long have you been able to see ghosts?"

"All my life. Why?"

"Yet you've never seen a shinigami before. Have you ever actually been instructed in how things work and why normal humans can't see spirits?"

"I admit I have wondered, but who would I ask?" Ichigo asked rhetorically.

"Well, since I can't sense the spirit, I'll take the time to explain it to you. That way if we cross paths again you'll do the sensible thing and leave me to my work." The shinigami started. "There is an energy called reishi, and it creates the spiritual version of body heat which is called reiatsu. When you sense a ghost what you're really sensing is their reiatsu. Usually humans are blind to it, in the same way how you can't perceive ultraviolet light. But occasionally a human can perceive it, like you. Usually a human is born to this or is exposed to a strong source of reishi for a sufficient time. In your case I'd say it's the first one, meaning the second one happened to one of your parents."

'It had to be Kaa-san. There's no way it happened to Tou-san.' Ichigo concluded. "So what does that mean for me?"

"Mean? Why should it mean anything to you? It just means something happened to your parents that had an effect on you and as a result you can perceive reishi and entities that emit reishi. This doesn't mean anything, it just is this way for you." She said. "Did you think your ability meant you were special or something? You'd be surprised how more common this condition is then you'd think."

She looked around. "Now, like you I should be able to sense some reiatsu around, but that filter is still interfering."

There was a loud almost animalistic roar outside that made Ichigo tense up, but the shinigami didn't react at all. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"There's no way you couldn't have heard that. It was like there was an elephant in the streets." He insisted.

"You must be-" She started, but stopped when there was another roar, and this time she heard it. 'There is a noise, but it's muffled. Is the filter affecting my ears too? How is this hollow able to do that? And why could this human hear it before I could?'

Ichigo might not have been able to move his arms, but he could move his legs, and carefully made himself get upright. "I have to warn my family." He struggled to get out of his room.

"You stay here. You can't do anything regarding this entity." The shinigami told him.

"You expect me to just sit here and do nothing when there's some kind of monster outside?" Ichigo argued. "Undo this spell of yours!"

She ignored him and went outside his room. As soon as she did the filter was down and the reiatsu of her prey hit her all of a sudden, almost overwhelming her due to the sheer shock value. 'The reiatsu is now in full force. Does this mean the hollow wasn't hiding itself? Something else must have been obstructing my senses. Is there a second hollow around?'

Ichigo pushed past her and went into the hall, struggling to stay balanced and not fall on the floor again. When he got downstairs, the first thing he saw was his sister Karin hurt on the floor, bleeding a little above her right eye like she had been hit. "Ichigo..." She groaned.

"What happened?" He asked.

"We heard a wall break in the clinic. Tou-san went to check and screamed. Yuzu and I went to check and saw him covered in blood. Yuzu's being attacked by some giant creature. She and Tou-san couldn't see it. I tried to get to you, but it hit me too. Try to call for help."

Karin then closed her eyes, as if napping. That didn't comfort the teen boy at all.

"Relax, she's not dead." The shinigami said, appearing by him. "The spirit's still in the body. Now do you see why I said to stay here?"

Ichigo glared at her. "My family is being attacked, and rather than do something about it or release me you're standing there trying to prove a point?" With that he yelled and struggled against his bindings, trying to break himself free.

"Stop what you're doing!" The shinigami ordered. "You can't break a kido with mere human power. If you try, your soul will-"

And against the odds, the bindings around the strawberry blonde shattered. The shinigami was speechless. Freed, Ichigo ran into the portion of the building that was the clinic. He saw some wrecked furniture, dents in the walls, and his unconscious father, bleeding but still alive. Then he saw a hole in the wall, and a silhouette of a large hunched being outside the building. Ichigo turned on the light to better see, and once he did the silhouette turned into an amphibious creature with a white skull-like face, streaks down the body, and a huge hole in the chest that would kill any normal lifeform.

"What the heck is that?" He asked himself. "She said it was a departed spirit so I was expecting something like a human. But this is a monster."

He was shaken up by this unfamiliar thing, but he stopped cold when he saw it had Yuzu clutched in its hands. She had a cut on her cheek but that was the only visible injury, and she was still conscious.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo called out.

She turned her worried eyes towards him. "Ichi-nii...?" Her tone was pleaded, but she sounded afraid, like she didn't know whether or not to ask for help or tell him to save himself.

Ichigo made the choice for her. He chose to help, running towards the creature despite having no weapons or idea of what to do here. All he knew was his little sister was in trouble and that was all he needed to know. The creature made a fist with its free hand and threw a fist at him, hitting him from the side and making him skid across the ground, ending up on the street outside his family's property. Luckily no one was around so there wasn't a panic.

Ichigo tried to get up, and that was when the creature tried to crush him with the fist that was holding Yuzu. It was forced to stop, by two thins hitting it. The first was the shinigami, sword unsheathed, and slicing into the creature's arm below the elbow. The second was something Ichigo didn't get a good look at since it was from behind the beast and looked like a white blur to him.

The shinigami severed the arm, allowing Yuzu to go free. Ichigo immediately moved to catch her, succeeding in doing so. "Yuzu! You okay Yuzu!"

Someone came running up to him. "We're not too late are we?"

Ichigo looked and was really surprised. "Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"We were bringing Rinne's stuff here, remember?" She asked, then looked to the creature for a moment. "Though we didn't expect this to be here."

"You can see it too?" He asked.

"Long story short, yes I can see ghosts. Right now that's not the issue." The braided girl said, looking like she was looking for something. "Rinne?!"

The creature was frozen, and from behind it stood Rinne, but now he wore a white haori with yellow flames and red rings sewn decorating it. In his hands were some ofuda and a dagger. "What is it Sakura?" He called back without looking.

"What kind of ghost is this?" She asked.

"What are you doing?" The shinigami girl yelled. "I'm the shinigami stationed in Karakura!"

"Who said I'm stationed here? I just live here." Rinne stated. "Now if you don't mind let me make one last adjustment then you can kill this and we can split the bounty."

"You go away! This is my assignment!" She continued to yell.

Rinne ignored her, jumping up onto the creatures back and putting his last ofuda on it. "There, it's motionless for another thirty seconds. Put your sword to use and kill it."

"Hold on a minute buster. Who are you and why are you interfering?" The girl continued to ask.

"Fine, I'm Rinne Rokudo. And you are?"

"What squad are you with?"

"Squad? Oh, you're one of those rich shinigami that got to afford certified training and those magic swords. Nope I'm one of those shinigami your kind all call bumpkins and bottomfeeders." Rinne said, sounding a bit offended.

"You understand any of this?" Ichigo asked Sakura.

"Not as much as I wish I did."

The creature then started to twitch, then flexed and roared like it had been unleashed, knocking Rinne off the back.

"Oh great, you took too long and now I'll have to buy more of the paralysis seals." He complained.

"We got bigger problems than resupplying!" The girl yelled, only for the creature to hit her from behind with enough force to send her flying. In doing so she smacked into Rinne and the both of them crashed into a streetside wall.

"Rinne!" Sakura yelled, concerned and ran to her classmate. Ichigo couldn't help but follow. Sakura helped Rinne lean up. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't know. I don't have any weapons for something of this scale, and I don't have a way to lead or force it to the spirit road." He groaned.

"I could fight it off, but my body's too sore to move right now." The female shinigami added, then looked to Ichigo. "You, boy. Do you want your family to die?"

"How can you even ask that?" He asked, offended.

"Then you and I need to do something very unorthodox." She said, then pointing her sword at him. "Impale yourself on my blade. With that, I will give you a portion of my powers to fight in my stead."

"Are you crazy?" Ichigo asked.

"We're out of options. And in case you haven't noticed, the hollow is resuming destroying your home."

Ichigo couldn't bear to look back, but he could hear the action. And he could hear Yuzu's plea for him to save himself, like she had given up on herself getting out of this alive. That thought more than anything gave him what he needed to make up his mind. "Fine. But don't call me boy. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

She then grinned. "And I'm Rukia Kuchiki. Let's hope this works."

Sensing the focusing spiritual energy of the sword, the fish-faced creature turned its attention away from the humans and towards them. Ichigo was naturally nervous at the idea of intentionally impaling himself with a sword, but the roars of the creature heading towards him helped push any and all though out of his head, allowing him to actually act.

The sword went thru his body, the pointy end coming out his back, and normally that would be the end. But here there was a bright explosion of energy. Everyone shielded their eyes, but the creature just kept going, refusing to stop.

Until there was a slicing sound and its left arm was severed at the shoulder that is.

The light faded with some residual energy in mist form, and Ichigo stood on the opposite side of the creature now, wearing a black kimono and hosting a large katana. He looked at the creature with an expression that said 'You're going to wish you never came here'.

"Whoa, that's just a portion of shinigami power?" Sakura asked.

"No, how could this be?" Rukia asked, finding herself devoid of her own black kimono and stripped down to the white under-kimono, her own sword gone entirely. "I only meant to give him half at most, but he's somehow acquired all of it."

"You gave him all your shinigami powers?" Rinne asked.

"Not by design, but by accident." Rukia insisted. 'Who is this human? I've never seen a human that could see shinigami, and he seems to create so strong a spiritual presence that it filtered my senses. And above all else, I've never seen a unreleased zanpakuto that large.'

While she could only ask herself about the situation, Ichigo was at work hacking away at the creature, cutting it apart limb by limb without remorse or enjoyment.

"Attacking my family was a big mistake creep!" Ichigo yelled when the creature could no longer support itself, swinging down his sword to cleave its head in half from the front. It roared in agony, then seemed to simply evaporate, leaving Ichigo standing victoriously.

"Nice job." Sakura praised.

"I really need to invest in a weapon." Rinne said to himself.

'Just who is this human?' Rukia asked.


	2. Chapter 2

"Will someone tell me why we're here instead of my house?" Ichigo asked as he, Rukia, Sakura, and Rinne sat inside one of the sheds on the high school grounds that no one ever went to. Ichigo was still in a black outfit while Rukia was devoid of her own, wearing simple white funeral robes used on corpses instead.

"Because your house was damaged by the Hollow and I had to call up Soul Society Damage Control to make repairs quickly without them spotting either you or me." Rukia told him bluntly.

"Did anyone understand that? I can't be the only one who didn't." Ichigo asked.

"I got the gist of it." Rinne answered. Sakura however shook her head.

"Alright, let me explain it this way. Would be easier with diagrams, but there's no paper here." Rukia started. "I'm a shinigami, I have to take care of dangerous spirits like Hollows all the time. Sometimes Hollows leave physical evidence of their presence in the world, like the damage to your house. When that happens, I'm supposed to call up a team of shinigami specifically suited to undo the damage before any human notices it. This is why you don't hear of spontaneous property damage all the time. Though sometimes the crew does show up too late. Tonight is not one of those times."

"Alright that I understood. Now why couldn't they see us?"

"Simple. I gave you my power. Too much, but still an amount. This is not allowed, and if the situation hadn't been desperate I wouldn't have done it. But it was done, and if anyone from Soul Society found out, we'd both be executed."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Because it's illegal. That's usually when people are executed, after they commit a large scale crime." Rukia explained as if it were quite obvious.

"But why is it illegal?" Sakura asked to gain clarity.

"If it wasn't, it could happen all the time. And that would be a bad thing. People are not supposed to have shinigami powers, so to keep them from getting them it's illegal to give living people such power."

"If it's not supposed to happen, how do you know how to do it?" Sakura asked.

Ichigo blinked. "Yeah, how do you know?"

"We're taught so we know what not to do. You know how to rob a bank, but it's illegal right?" Rukia asked back.

"Point taken. And I take it you weren't taught how to undo it. That would only make shinigami think they can cover up their tracks." Sakura remarked.

"You're right about that. I don't know how to take my powers back and I don't know who to ask to do the job. I think for the time all we can do is wait for them to wear off for him and return to me." Rukia suggested.

"Does it work that way?" Ichigo asked.

"How should I know?" Rukai asked back, then looked to Rinne. "And don't you go turning me in. Had you been competent it never would have happened in the first place."

"Like I'm going to ever get a chance to talk to an official shinigami. Not on my salary." Rinne said in a bad mood.

"Salary? You're paid to get rid of ghosts?" Ichigo asked.

"What, you think we do it pro bono?" Rinne asked back.

Ichigo ignored that and looked at Sakura. "And what about you Sakura? I've known you for as long as I've known Orihime, and you apparently can see ghosts?"

Sakura gave a slightly upset and annoyed look at the orange-haired teen. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black Ichigo? You apparently kept the same secret."

Ichigo had the decency to not look proud of himself. "Alright then. And what exactly is Rinne supposed to be? I doubt any ordinary shinigami would attend a human high school."

"True. I can't imagine why any would." Rinne commented. "I'm half human. My father was the same. I think you could be too."

"And you've known this about yourself for how long?" Ichigo tested.

"Since I was a kid." Rinne answered.

"Then I'm probably not. I've been able to see ghosts as long as I can remember, but I've never even seen a shinigami or Hollow until tonight and never had reason to believe either existed. And my old man can't even see ghosts."

"So how can you see ghosts?" Sakura asked.

"How can you?" Ichigo asked back.

"I'm kind of weakened and unable to get back home, but no let's talk about this since it's clearly so much more important." Rukia stated sarcastically.

"Well there's nothing we can really do about you now is there? I'm sorry if that sounds rude but honestly what can we do to solve your problem?" Rinne asked. "I don't know how to return your powers, or where you can go or hide until they do. Does anyone here?"

No one was able to give an answer.

"But we can't just say she's on her own. If she were a spirit what would you do?" Sakura asked her redhead classmate.

"This is different. Allowing her to get back to the other side would put her in more danger than letting her stay would. As long as she doesn't draw attention to herself she'd be able to hide from the shinigami authorities. As for her surviving, it's hard enough for me and Rokumon to live on our income."

"I don't think we can resolve something this complicated tonight." Sakura started. "Let's call it a night and get back to this tomorrow after school. Until then, Rukia how about you..." She paused for a bit. "Actually I don't know where you should stay the night."

"Given how this boy has my powers, it wouldn't be a good idea for me to be too far from him in case that affects their return to me." Rukia suggested, pointing her thumb at Ichigo.

"What? You can't stay in my house."

"Oh please, if you're afraid of me being noticed it won't happen. I may be devoid of power but normal living people still can't see me."

"But I'm not the only one in my house who can see ghosts." Ichigo stated.

"Didn't your sister claim she didn't accept ghosts as real? Why would she point out Rukia?" Rinne asked.

"What about with you for the night? You're both shinigami." Ichigo asked, changing the subject.

"I live in a one-room shed. And thanks to Sakura not much longer." Rinne answered.

"Besides, he's a boy and she's a girl. You going to make them share a room like that?" Sakura asked.

"Then why not you if no one can see her?"

"Gee, thanks for making me feel wanted." Rukia bitterly commented.

* * *

"Ugh, what a night." Ichigo said while heading to school the next morning. The discussion never truly got resolved, but it appeared Rukia was staying at his place by default.

"Good morning Ichigo-kun." A girl with a bubbly personality named Orihime Inoue greeted, coming up to the tired boy from behind with a grin and wave, running to get next to him. Orihime was one of the few people Ichigo felt he could connect to, given how they both had naturally orange hair despite being Japanese. Hers was more of a burnt shade while his was more of a strawberry orange shadow, but it made them both stand out. Orihime was also well known for being the most developed girl in school, something that earned her a lot of unwanted attention from horny boys and girls alike, but luckily he and their mutual friends were always there to defend her.

"Oh, hi Orihime." He greeted, glad to see a trusted face.

"You look tired. Didn't you get enough sleep last night?" She asked, matching his pace as they continued to school.

"Not really. A truck damaged my house really good last night, so for the next few days my family's going to be in a hotel until it's fixed." He said, lying about the cause of the damage but not the aftermath.

"Oh my gosh, no one got hurt did they?" Orihime asked, hand covering her mouth.

"My sisters got a few cuts and some headaches, but they're better now. They're taking the day off from school, but as you can see I'm still good enough to go."

Orihime relaxed and smiled. "I'm glad. That you and your sisters are okay I mean."

"Thanks. I don't know what I'd do if they got really hurt." Ichigo thought. "Say, Orihime, not to change the subject or anything, but have you ever noticed anything unusual about Sakura?"

"Sakura? Why do you ask?" Orihime asked, confused by this new topic.

"Have you ever seen her say or do something that looked out of place?" He asked, trying not to sound prying.

Orihime paused to think about it. "Nothing really. Sometimes she seems to look off in random directions staring at nothing, but I'm sure she's just prone to daydreaming like I am. Why? Did something happen between the two of you?"

"No, nothing really. I was just wondering." Ichigo said, trying to avoid giving away the braided girl's secret in case Orihime didn't know it. Odds were she didn't. "She's been spending a lot of time around Rinne hasn't she?"

The buxom girl nodded. "Yeah, I wonder if she likes him. Or feels bad for him. I've heard some people say he's in a real bad place in his life."

"I just found out I'm related to him." Ichigo added.

Orihime blinked. "He is?"

"Apparently he's a cousin on my father's side. So once our house is repaired he's going to be moving in."

"That's good."

"Hello Orihime!" The enthusiastic voice of a classmate of theirs called Chizuru Honsho said as she embraced the orange-haired girl from behind, clearly trying to cup the girl's generous breasts in the process. She was one of those that Orihime's friends didn't like getting too friendly with the girl, but if nothing else Chizuru was actually the most harmless of those that tried.

"Dammit Chizuru! You're a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen you know that?" Ichigo almost yelled, wishing Tatsuki was there because he had a problem with attacking girls.

Chizuru gave the boy a bland look, like looking at him was a chore she wished someone else would do in her place. "It's only sexual harassment when a boy does it to a girl. When it's a girl with another girl, it's just being friendly."

"You better look up the law again groper." Tatsuki Arisawa, another friend of Ichigo and Orihime, said while grabbing Chizuru and prying her off the other girl. Tatsuki had short spiked black hair and a lithe frame that was surprisingly stronger than it looked. She was often called Orihime's opposite in both appearance and behavior, yet the two were best friends. And she knew Ichigo thanks to them both learning some martial arts when younger, though she made it a longterm hobby whereas he did not.

Hey!" Chizuru objected, trying to grasp back onto her prey. Only to have Tatsuki practically fling her away. "You can't keep us apart forever."

"This would be a lot easier you know if you stopped enabling that girl Orihime." Tatsuki said to her friend.

"I'm sure it's just a phase Chizuru is going through." Orihime defended.

"That's just what I'm talking about."

"Hey look." Orihime said, pointing ahead. The others with her looked, and saw Sakura walking to school with Rinne next to her, the two talking and unaware of what was around them. "I guess I was right Ichigo, she might like him after all."

"I dunno. We've known Sakura for years and she's never shown any interest in dating anyone. Almost like she has no sex drive of any kind." Tatsuki commented.

"Oh, and you do?" Ichigo asked, resulting in a frown from his oldest female friend.

"You'd be surprised at how perverted Tatsuki can get when it's just us talking." Orihime said to the strawberry blonde boy, oblivious to Tatsuki's growing embarrassment, who swiftly put her hand over Orihime's mouth.

"That's enough for now. Let's get to class before Ichigo makes us late."

"Hey!" He argued, only to see Tatsuki rush ahead dragging Orihime with her. He chose not to rush at them, and instead tried to catch up with Sakura and Rinne. "Hey, you two."

Both teens turned and looked at him. "Oh, good morning Ichigo." Sakura greeted, while Rinne just nodded.

"Can we talk about everything at some point?" He asked, really wanting to understand the backstory of these two. This way he wouldn't feel so different than everyone else, but last night only so much could be said and he felt he might as well have been told nothing.

"It will have to wait until we both have free time. Rinne often has to do some work after school, and it's easier for him when I help, so we can't promise any time soon we'll be available to just chat." Sakura replied. "But maybe at lunch we can try."

"Alright." Ichigo said.

* * *

'Well that didn't go as planned.' Sakura thought a few hours later.

"Your stomach hurts?" The school nurse asked a groaning and crouched Orihime minutes before the lunch break would end. "What did you eat?"

"Some takoyaki I sweetened with red bean paste and mayonnaise-dipped celery sticks."

The nurse looked revolted while Sakura, the one who helped Orihime get to the nurse, looked like this was gross but nothing out of the ordinary for her. "Orihime has a rather unique set of tastebuds."

"I can see." The nurse said. "I can give you something to settle your stomach, but I recommend less experimenting with your food like that. Some ingredients don't go well mixed together."

"I'll be more careful next time." Orihime said.

A strange new sound, like something rusty being opened, drew Sakura's attention for a moment. 'What was that?' Then she heard approaching footsteps that sounded more forced than natural, like a person who had a hard time walking, come to a silent stop outside the office. Next, she saw a man dressed in very old fashioned and broken armor walk thru the wall, with three broken arrows sticking out of his upper back.

'The ghost of a fallen warrior?' Sakura asked.

The ghost ignored her and went to one of the areas closed off by a curtain, where a student was probably recovering from exhaustion.

"Oh, there's a second-year girl resting in there." The nurse told Sakura, noticing the braided girl looking at the curtain. Groans could be heard now. "Maybe she's in pain?" She got up and opened the curtain. "Are you hurt, Himekawa?"

Sakura could see the warrior ghost seated at the head of the bed above the resting girl, holding a sake tray to her mouth. "Drink up now Princess." He said to her, like a doctor offering medicine only said like a lover instead. She didn't seem to like the offering, and groaned as if trying to ward off the spirit.

"Himekawa?" The nurse asked, lightly shaking the girl's shoulder and waking her up. As her eyes fluttered open, the spirit disappeared with a sad look on its face.

"Uhh... that dream again." Himekawa moaned as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"What do you mean 'that dream again'?" Sakura couldn't help asking, even if it was rude to pry into a stranger's privacy like that.

Himekawa paused to yawn. "Well, you may not believe this, but recently I've been having a recurring dream. Every time, a guy who looks like he died in an ancient war comes to me and offers me sake. It feels so real that it makes me afraid to sleep. I passed out in class before lunch because of it."

"I see." Sakura said.

"Why not try getting help from the instrument shelter?" Orihime offered.

"Huh?" Himekawa asked.

"There's this old thing in the schoolyard. I hear that if you're having spiritual problems you go to it and leave a written request for help along with a donation of money or food and in no time the problem's gone. So if something's haunting your dreams it's worth a try."

'Thank you Orihime for making that offer. I'm not sure I could have said it as sincerely as you just did.' Sakura thought, already intending to see if Rinne could do something about this ghost.

Himekawa naturally looked skeptical. "Have you ever tried it?"

"Yeah, once. I got this nasty phone call a week ago that kept calling me every day at the same time. I went to the instrument shelter and I haven't gotten a call like that again. And no it wasn't a prank caller, this call apparently harassed anyone who had my phone number before me for years without being traced by the phone companies."

Himekawa looked uncertain. "Show me this instrument shelter."

"After school, you girls still have class and you Himekawa need more rest. Right now you're struggling to keep your eyes open." The nurse spoke up.

"Alright, we'll meet up with you here after school to show you Himekawa." Sakura said. 'Ichigo will still have to wait I guess.'

* * *

After school, Ichigo saw Sakura head out with Orihime accompanying her and Rinne heading a different direction. Tatsuki didn't seem to think anything of it and went on her way, but he decided to follow.

Sakura and Orihime went to the nurses office where a girl he didn't recognize was waiting for them. She acknowledged them without him hearing it and went with them to the schoolyard out back. Karakura High hadn't had any remodeling for more than a decade, and at the back were some old sheds and a small place to put small things overnight. The three girls came to a stop by it, and Ichigo was able to see that they were telling the new girl about it.

'Why would they be doing that?' He asked, still not close enough to hear them.

"What are you doing?" Rukia asked from behind him, startling him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, seeing her still wearing her white kimono.

"I haven't been able to find anything yet to help me in this town. Honestly, I can't really find anything. When I was assigned Karakura as a station my only concern was mapping out frequent Hollow appearance locations, not the actual infrastructure of the town."

"And no one can see you right?" He asked.

She nodded once. "Not unless I were to get a gigai or a underworld outfit. Though Karakura has a high level of localized reishi, so now that I think about it there's a good risk that you aren't the only sighted person in this town."

"What?" He asked, attention focused on her instead of the three girls, so he couldn't see Rinne standing around wearing his white haori.

"It's a strange phenomenon in this world. Places that would be considered reishi hot spots tend to influence living people that live there. We in Soul Society consider Karakura to be one of such areas in Japan, so there's no reason to believe I can never be spotted in my current state by someone other than you or that girl."

Ichigo said nothing, remembering to look back at the girls, except now the three of them were walking away while Rinne was checking on what they left at the instrument shelter. Ichigo went up to the redhead. "What are you doing?" He asked, and Rukia listened from right behind him.

"This is how I get my income for living since Soul Society's pay is crap even if you're not in debt." He answered, not taking his eyes off the paper in his hands.

"Well you're not wrong." Rukia thought out loud. "With so many ghosts and Hollows around they don't even bother paying us for eliminating some of them. Only the ones that they consider real threats."

Rinne nodded. "Hello, my name is Kaori Himekawa, of Class 2-1. I have been having frightening dreams since last month." He said, reading the request out loud. "Ever since a field trip to Kyoto. The ghost of a fallen warrior appears to me every time I go to sleep, day or night, and offers me sake for reasons I do not understand, calling me his princess. The dreams haven't stopped since I returned from Kyoto and they're driving me crazy."

"Sounds like a lingering Whole who latched onto her in Kyoto and she's brought it back with her." Rukia commented. "Not uncommon, since a Whole that's attached to a person is less likely to turn into a Hollow unless forced."

"Maybe it's confused, since it thinks a girl here is a princess from the Feudal Era." Ichigo added.

"Setting the ghost straight should help the girl of her problems, though a ghost with unfinished business is difficult to konso." Rinne said.

"Konso?" Ichigo asked.

"A soul funeral. When a shinigami finds a spirit who hasn't become a Hollow yet, a Whole as we call them, we can help them pass on to the other side with this little process. It helps them find their way to Soul Society or the Wheel of Samsara, depending on which they choose to go to on the other side. But a Whole that insists on staying here is difficult to konso, and at great risk of becoming a Hollow."

"Which makes me wonder why it hasn't already done so if it's been looking for this princess for several hundred years." Rinne noted, looking at the money Himekawa had offered. "Maybe this huge sum of money isn't enough to help get the job done."

"Huge sum? It's just 1000 yen. My sisters get more than that as a weekly allowance." Ichigo remarked.

Rinne could only cry tears of blood at hearing that.

* * *

"Hey Ichi-nii. Where's Rinne? I thought he'd come back with you." Yuzu said when her brother entered their temporary hotel room. It was nothing fancy, just one large room with a bathroom, tv, and two beds, but luckily Isshin had sprung for one that included a small kitchen so they wouldn't be stuck eating instant or premade meals for the next few days. Yuzu would go crazy if she had nothing to keep her hands occupied each evening.

"He said he didn't want to impose. The room's crowded enough as it is so where he is now has more room for him." Ichigo said, taking a seat in the only chair in the room. Isshin was taking a nap in the bed Ichigo was using, taking advantage of his son's absence since he had to sleep on the floor at night. Yuzu and Karin shared the second bed.

"Works for me." Karin said, channel-surfing to see what was on. "Why aren't the channels in the same order as back home? I feel like I'm lost without a map here."

"Should we go check up on him? Make sure he has a good dinner?" Yuzu asked, concerned.

"No need, he told me he's fine for the night. But maybe tomorrow that would be a good idea. Then we can find out what we likes to eat so you can be sure he gets it." Ichigo said, certain this would appeal to his caretaking sister.

"Oh, good idea." She said with a nod.

* * *

In another part of Karakura, Kaori Himekawa was sitting on her bed, losing like her neck barely had the strength to support her head.

"Ugh... I'm exhausted. But I'm scared to sleep... so sleepy."

Behind her Rinne appeared wearing his robe, accompanied by Rukia who wanted to see what this shinigami could do and his partner Rokumon the black cat.

"The ghost only appears when the client falls asleep." Rinne observed, speaking freely since he knew the human couldn't hear him. "I cannot presume to know why, but once he does we can capture him."

"But how do we konso him? Neither one of us has a zanpakuto." Rukia asked.

"We'll use the direct approach, take him directly to the other side. After finding out why he's haunting this girl to help him resolve his business." Rinne answered.

Himekawa drowsily reached for a small bottle on her nightstand. Uncapping it, she guzzled the contents then seemed to sigh in relief. "There, that will help me stay awake."

"Well that's going to make this a long night for us." Rukia bitterly remarked.

Lacking patience himself, Rinne did something he'd normally not be proud of. He chopped Himekawa in the back of her neck, which she felt even if she didn't see it, and she passed out. "There, problem solved."

"Chivalrous, isn't he?" Rukia asked Rokumon sarcastically.

Their reishi senses went off and all three saw the ghost of the warrior tred through the wall. "Princess..." He said with a smile, but it came across as something right out of a horror movie. But he paused when he saw that Himekawa wasn't alone this time, eyes resting on Rinne.

"Tell me who you are and what is your business with this girl." The redhead insisted.

The ghost only recoiled with horror. "A man at the princess's bed?" Rinne, Rukia, and Rokumon all blinked, then the ghost covered his eyes with his sleeve. "Oh Princess how could you?" He cried as he started to run away.

"Probably should have seen that coming if he was that devoted to her." Rukia stated. Rinne headed out to chase the ghost and with a sigh Rukia followed. Stripped of her power, she was still a shinigami and technically wasn't released from her job. As long as she kept up a record of dealing with ghosts, she might keep Soul Society from trying to see her in person.

The chase quickly went to the rooftops of the town, with the ghost weeping and Rinne trying to keep track of it, with Rukia trying to keep track of Rinne. Doing so was easy for her since she was still a spirit and thus not bound to gravity like living people, but she felt slower. As a result, she had to pause to catch her breath.

That was when her reishi senses detected a second and much more dangerous presence not that far from here.

'Times like this I almost wish I had just stayed in Rukon.' She bemoaned.


	3. Chapter 3

"Thanks for coming over girls." Orihime said when Tatsuki and Sakura came over to her apartment. This was not uncommon as Orihime lived on her own and often got lonely.

"No problem Hime." Tatsuki said, always glad to come over.

"We wouldn't want you to have more stomach problems tonight." Sakura added. "We'll make dinner for you so your stomach can settle."

"Thanks girls. Should I do anything?" Orihime offered.

"If you want to bake something feel free to." Tatsuki suggested. Orihime might have unusual tastes, but her pastries and desserts were generally edible to other people without problem.

"No problem. I've been thinking of trying to create a donut version of a cinnamon roll." Orihime said, rubbing her hands together. "I might need some more flour to make enough for us all. Sakura, would you mind going to the nearby store for some?"

"I can do that, but could you give me some money for it? I didn't bring any with me." Sakura asked. 'With Rinne around though I might need to get into that habit.'

* * *

"Where did that ghost go?" Rukia asked, coming to a stop and looking around. The ghost of the fallen warrior had somehow escaped them.

"I don't know." Rinne said, looking around too. "That other reiatsu kept distracting me."

"Same here. I think we've got a Hollow trying to get out of Hueco Mundo right now." Rukia noted. The reiatsu they were sensing felt unfriendly but slow, like whatever was generating it was having a hard time moving around or was resisting the urge to go somewhere.

"What do we do? You can't fight and I'm not equipped to fight one." Rinne asked.

"We know one person who is." Rukia sighed in defeat.

"What? No, Ichigo can't handle this."

"You have a better idea?"

* * *

Sakura came out of a convenience store carrying a plastic bag in both hands and headed back to Orihime's apartment building, which was in view but on another block. Walking along the sidewalk, she could see a children's park to her right, and despite the fact it was getting late, two people were inside.

"Hey mister, you okay?"

Sakura glanced a bit because of the noise, and actually got a direct look instead of a peripheral one. One was an ordinary young boy in a striped shirt, but the other was a man in old fashioned armor and broken armors sticking out of his back. The boy was looking at the man, and the man was seated on a bench looking like he was crying. And Sakura had seen enough ghosts in her life to know both of these people were not alive.

"Hey, weren't you that guy who was trying to visit Himekawa?" Sakura asked, walking to the warrior who did not acknowledge her presence.

"Is this guy okay?" The boy asked, showing no injuries but Sakura could see a broken chain dangling from his chest.

"I don't know." Sakura said, keeping her eyes on the warrior.

"Oh princess, why? Why another man?" The warrior sobbed.

'Did he see Himekawa with someone and not take it well?" Sakura thought, then knelt in front of the warrior. "Why are you bothering Himekawa? She's not a real princess. Her name just makes her sound like one."

The warrior looked to the braided girl. "I know the princess. I would never forget such a beautiful face even after centuries of looking for her."

"Was she really that important to you?" Sakura asked.

The warrior closed his eyes and nodded. "I lingered as a ghost, refusing to pass on until I could find her and we could reincarnate together."

'Romantic, but I'm not sure if reincarnation works that way.' Sakura thought.

"It seems at some point she died and passed on without me. I was afraid to miss her again, so I've been trying to find her reincarnation since."

"So Himekawa is this princess's reincarnation?" Sakura asked. "Now that you found her, what do you intend to do about it?"

"We were promised to be wed. To be joined together for all eternity. I want her to remember so we can be together again." The warrior explained.

"I'm bored." The young boy said, running off to go play on some swings.

"Umm... how can you marry her? She's not the princess anymore, she's a student in high school and doesn't remember you anymore." Sakura told the ghost. "And even if you reminded her, she's alive and you're dead. Are you going to kill the woman you claim to love?"

"We can be together in spirit and when her current life ends then we can pass on together." The warrior suggested.

'This is becoming less romantic and more stalkerish.' Sakura thought. "And if she finds someone living to love instead? I don't imagine being married to a ghost to be that great a relationship."

The warrior teared up a bit. "I have waited for so long, struggled for so long to not lose my way and become a lost dark spirit like so many others. Don't I deserve at least some form of resolution?"

'Well he's not wrong.' Sakura thought, not sure what to do. "Why don't we ask someone what to do about this? You're scaring Himekawa, and you don't want that right?" The warrior shook his head. "So let's find out what should be done to avoid a big problem."

* * *

"Hey Ichigo, can you get that?" Isshin asked when someone knocked at the hotel door.

"Fine." Ichigo said and got to the door, having no idea why someone would be there. 'Likely an employee wanting to check on something.'

Instead of an employee, he saw Rinne. "Ichigo, I really need your help for a bit."

"What? How?"

"No time to explain. Just come with us." Rinne said, grabbing his cousin's shirt and pulling him out of the room.

"Everything okay?" Yuzu asked while she could.

"Sort of. I just need an extra set of hands." Rinne said while going down the hall dragging Ichigo.

"Okay, take care." Yuzu said with a wave.

Ichigo was taken out of the hotel and into an alley where Rukia was waiting, looking like a loiterer. She saw him and put a red glove. "Okay, what is going-?" Ichigo started, only to be silenced by the shinigami girl slamming her gloved palm into his face.

The next thing Ichigo knew, he was wearing shinigami robes again and standing over his unconscious body.

"What the hell was that?" He asked.

"Just a way to get a shinigami out of a physical body. We can't both use my underworld haori." Rinne said, taking out his aforementioned garment and putting it on, turning his physical body spiritual. "Rokumon will look over your body to make sure it's safe."

"Rokumon?" Ichigo asked, forgetting the name.

"You'll be fine, now go." The black cat claimed.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "You can talk?"

"Enough talking, time to go get that Hollow." Rukia ordered, grabbing Ichigo and dragging him down the street with Rinne following.

* * *

Having realized that Rinne clearly could not afford to have his own cellphone, Sakura had no means to contact him. And while she was familiar with Ichigo, who would have better means of contacting him, she had never really had reason in the past to call him. But she knew people who did.

"I'm back." She said when she returned to Orihime's apartment, followed by the samurai ghost that no one else could see. Tatsuki and Orihime were seated at the table sharing some sodas and looking like they were killing time.

"The main course is almost done. I hope. Cooking's not exactly my strong suit." Tatsuki said.

"Thanks for the flour. I'll get started on my part." Orihime said, taking the bag from Sakura's hands then headed off to the kitchen.

"Umm... do either of you know Ichigo's number?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, but the lug only has a home number, and no one's home at the moment so it wouldn't do you any good to call him now." Tatsuki answered.

"Why would you want to call him?" Orihime asked.

"I needed to ask Rinne something and that was my only idea on how to find him."

Tatsuki grinned. "Ah good, and here I thought you might have been trying to take Orihime's man for yourself."

"Tatsuki!" Orihime shouted.

"Oh please, like it's any big secret you want him. At least it looks like Sakura here wants Rinne instead."

"What? No I don't. I don't want anyone right now." Sakura said, but not with the kind of denial that comes from embarrassment or protesting too much. No she said it more like she was declining an offer of sorts. She looked behind her and saw the samurai was looking impatient. "I just need to ask him something."

"Just wait until school tomorrow. It's not like he's going to come here after all." Tatsuki remarked.

* * *

"Could someone please tell me what's going on?" Ichigo asked, finding that Rukia had a very strong grip.

"We've got a Hollow trying to emerge from Hueco Mundo. We need to deal with it before the trail dies down." Rinne told his cousin.

"What are you talking about? I don't understand anything." Ichigo argued.

"When you see the big monster, kill it. Go for the head, that's the best way to get rid of it." Rukia explained.

"What big monster?" Ichigo asked.

From behind a building two blocks up ahead, something large and monstrous emerged, but no one seemed to see it. It looked like a giant dark blue snake with arms, a skull mask, and some black hair behind it. The creature seemed to swim thru the air, trying to get somewhere.

"That big monster." Rinne told him. "You're the only one here equipped to fight it so kill it before it does to someone else what that last Hollow tried to do to your family."

The memory of his sister's being hurt was enough to spark Ichigo's desire to do something. "Alright, I'm on it."

Rukia released his robes, no longer needing to make him go with her. He quickly gave chase and the other two followed.

* * *

Tatsuki, Orihime, and Sakura were seated down eating dinner and watching some tv, having an ordinary night, while the samurai ghost was patiently waiting for Sakura to do something that could help him. She had told him discreetly that after she was done here she'd go find Rinne directly as best she could. Since the samurai was dead he naturally didn't have to be anywhere in a hurry, but he sure didn't look comfortable being around three young girls so much.

'As long as he's here, he can't give Himekawa a hard time sleeping.' Sakura thought, certain the upperclassgirl was grateful for a few hours of peaceful rest. 'But it's hard to pretend he's not there. Sometimes I really wish I couldn't see ghosts.'

The samurai suddenly looked alert. "Something is coming."

Sakura had to be careful not to react as the fallen warrior took out his sword and got into a defensive stance. 'Should I warn the girls? How do I do that?'

In the end it didn't matter, for one of the walls of the apartment exploded inward making the girls scream but not have enough time to duck for cover. Sakura, who was the only one even a little prepared for something like this, recovered the quickest and looked to see what was there.

The first thing she saw was a hand, like something huge was trying to reach in. The next thing she saw was half of a giant face that looked like a skull.

"What the hell happened?" Tatsuki, the toughest of the three girls in physical terms if nothing else, said when she got up. She helped Orihime get up, and she saw what looked like a bleeding cut on the girl.

Sakura shrieked in fear when one of the hands lashed right out at Orihime, passing right thru her like one would expect of a ghost. Orihime had to have felt something, for her expression was that of a person who just got shot, and she collapsed in the same manner.

"Orihime!" Tatsuki shouted, completely unaware of what was happening.

"Begone vile monster!" The ghost samurai declared, running up to the new entity with sword drawn thirsty for whatever if any blood ghosts had.

The monster in question opened its mouth and the two front teeth parted, then suddenly a stream of liquid was shot out more like a spitting cobra than a mere hose, and the samurai got hit. And ghost or not, he felt the effects.

"What is this? It burns!" He cried in agony, dropping his sword and trying to remove his armor to get the majority of the acidic substance off him. In the process, the monster reached out and grabbed him, mouth still open. "No! No! I can't be beaten! I still need to be with my princess!"

Sakura watched in horror as the giant creature shoved the fallen warrior in his mouth and crunched on him, chewing his victim in a sickening way.

'He'll never get the peace he wanted now.' She thought, not sure if this meant the samurai was gone for good. 'Rinne, please come help us.'

"What happened? What's going on?" Orihime could be heard saying, and Sakura looked to her. Her eyes widened when she saw two Orihimes, one dazed laying on the floor and the other huddled against the wall with a chain coming out from just above her breasts.

"Orihime?" Sakura asked.

"You just noticed she's hurt?" Tatsuki asked, not aware of what the braided girl was actually referring to. "Come on, we had to move-" The tomboy was cut off by the creature lashing out at her, but unlike Orihime this time the claw din't go thru Tatsuki. No, it cut into her body and made her bleed and fall to her knees.

"What the hell just hit me?" Tatsuki panted while covering one of her wounds. She looked around and saw nothing.

The hand she couldn't see made another attempt to hurt her, and Sakura pounced to push Tatsuki away, taking a hit in the process.

Orihime gasped and tried to get up, and that was when she noticed the chain. "What's this?" She grabbed it and jangled it, seeing where it led. She almost screamed when she saw her own body. "Tatsuki? Sakura?"

"Orihime, I think this thing wants you." Sakua said with a bit of a wheeze. She had some blood on her head which was getting into her right eye, forcing her to keep it closed. "If you can run, do it."

'Run? But I'm chained up to my own body.' Orihime asked, then looked at the creature who was started to get into her apartment. It was a cramped fit so more walls were cracking and breaking, and the neighbors were surely panicking, but it paid that no mind.

"Orihime..." It said. "I've missed you."

"What?" She asked.

Suddenly the monster jolted as if hit by something she couldn't see. It pulled back and turned around, and she could see of all thing Ichigo in black robes hovering in the air holding a sword, with Rinne in white robes next to him but unarmed.

"Okay big and ugly, time to die." Ichigo said, rushing out at the big creature with his sword trying to impale it in the head. The creature swerved to duck under, so Ichigo attempted to swing the sword to get it. Having no prior sword training Ichigo was not that good with the weapon, but he did graze it enough to crack the mask. A quarter of the mask, the upper left portion to be precise, fell off and broke on the pavement.

"What? That looks like a human face underneath?" Ichigo thought.

"Don't you remember? We told you that all Hollows were once normal human spirits." Rinne told him.

Somehow, actually seeing this affected Ichigo more than hearing it. "This monster used to be an ordinary person?"

"And you used to be an animal in a past life. Are you still an animal?" Rinne asked back, trying to find something to hit the Hollow with.

"Orihime!" The Hollow called out, looking like he was reaching for her.

"What is going on?" The aforementioned girl asked, looking around as if trying to find the answer somewhere.

Ichigo noticed the girl then, more specifically noticing the fact that there were two of them, one unconscious and chained to the other. "Orihime?"

The buxom girl looked fearfully to her crush, feeling a little safer in his presence but still scared. "Ichigo? What is happening to us?"

The strawberry blonde teen couldn't answer her right away. The Hollow tried to grab her again, and Ichigo prevented it from succeeding by slicing off one of its fingers. It withdrew its hand in agony, and Rinne made an attempt to kick the creature in its eye.

"Of all the times to not have a weapon." Rinne complained to himself.

"Try some kido or something!" Rukia called out.

Rinne looked to her. "I would if I could. But I wasn't taught that."

"You're completely useless as a shinigami!" Rukia demeaned while the Hollow got free.

"Says the shinigami stuck in a powerless gigai!" Rinne insulted back, moving around the Hollow. "Maybe I can lead it to the Spirit Road."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Rukia asked, trying to find any weakness the Hollow had that might make this encounter easier.

When away from the building the Hollow crouched like a reptile might but kept its eyes on the hole it had created. "Orihime!" It shouted.

Rukia blinked. 'This isn't a random attack. This Hollow must be connected to a resident here.'

Rinne went inside the apartment, hoping to get the Hollow's attention directly. There he saw Ichigo standing guard over the girls but not actually fighting the monster. "What are you doing? Hoping it will go away?"

"Well what do you expect me to do?"

"A lot more than that considering you're the only one with a weapon." Rinne argued, then his eyes quickly spotted the dropped sword from the fallen samurai. "Better than nothing." He picked it up and jumped outside the apartment to attack, hitting the Hollow in the face. The sword cracked the mask but it didn't hurt the Hollow.

"You can't do that!" Ichigo called out from the hole in the building.

"And why not?" Rinne asked, moving out of the way of some more acid spit in his direction.

"Orihime says this thing knows her name. And you said these things used to be human. This could be a family member for all you know."

Orihime silently gasped. She had told her classmate that the beast knew her name while Rukia and Rinne were busy outside, but she still didn't know how it knew. If Ichigo was right, then there was only one person this monstrosity could be.

'Sora?'

Outside, Rukia tried to come up with any means she could to combat the Hollow. Sadly she had spent all her money on her gigai and couldn't afford any of the shinigami tools. She could possibly use the spirit road to return to Soul Society and make a withdrawl from her account, but if she did everyone there would notice her lack of power and investigate it. So the only place where she was safe to shop was Urahara's store, and he didn't have an ATM.

In short, she was as broke and powerless as Rinne on a normal day.

'But I'm not helpless.' She thought as a radical and very crazy idea came to her. She started running towards the Hollow. 'This is crazy, but I'm out of options!'

With Rinne attacking the serpentine dark spirit, Rukia jumped on it's tail and ran along its back. The swords to the face were a little more priority to the Hollow than the girl on its back of course, giving her enough time to reach the back of its head and tug at its hair.

The pained tug became practically the only thing the Hollow could feel now and it roared with anger and agony.

"NOW!" Rukia yelled.

Rinne took the opportunity and charged forward, sword held over his head for a downward slice. The sword made contact and the mask gained a vertical crack. This one went deeper than before and connected with another, and soon a quarter of the mask broke off, exposing the top left portion of the human face underneath.

Ichigo and Orihime looked down to best see if they could identify the human face, but given how only half of a forehead and one eye could be seen that wasn't exactly realistic.

'Is that really Sora?' Orihime asked herself.

Breaking the mask appeared to bother the Hollow and hurt it. It froze in place but trembled a bit, like it was trying to bear through some pain. Rinne moved to strike again, but the Hollow dived down and a spirit road to Hueco Mundo appeared under it. Rukia immediately jumped off, not wanting to be inadvertently taken to the realm of corrupted ghosts.

"Good it's gone, for now." Rinne said, putting the sword down but not dropping it.

"It will come back." Rukia pointed out.

Rinne nodded. "So we have time to get ready." He looked up. "And I know where to start." He went up to the damaged apartment, forcing Rukia to stay down there since she couldn't fly in a gigai. Not wanting that, she went inside the front doors and proceeded like any normal person.

The redhead half-shinigami stood in the wreckage, looking at the other boy there. "What was with you? You're the only one here who had the means to fight that thing! And you just stood here watching? What gives?"

Ichigo frowned. "Well excuse me for being new to all this."

"That didn't stop you from fighting the last one!"

Ichigo stepped forward. "That was different! My sisters were in danger!"

"So you're only going to get involved when it's personal or something like that? That's not how it works Ichigo! You can't pick and choose when to do your job anymore than you can pick and choose which homework assignments you'll do! Either you do all parts of the job or none of it! And like it or not Ichigo, for the time being you are a shinigami! Or are you going to be one or not?"

Ichigo fumed. "Look, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be able to see ghosts. I didn't ask for shinigami to get involved in my life. I didn't ask to become one even if only temporarily. The way I see it, I don't owe anyone anything. I'm going to deal with these things when I think they're worth dealing with, and I think you and that girl haven't been telling me everything about them."

"You kill them so they don't kill people like that girl right there. What more do you need to know?" Rinne countered, pointing at Orihime's spirit.

"I'm... I'm dead?" Orihime asked, starting to cry.

"No, you're not dead. Not yet at least." Rukia said when she got into the apartment, able to find it thanks to Ichigo's spiritual pressure. "The chain binding you to your body hasn't been severed, so you are still alive."

"Can you get me back in my body?" The buxom girl asked.

"Yeah, but once we do we have to make sure you won't remember any of this." Rukia warned.

"Hold on just a moment." Ichigo said. "That thing there, it knows Orihime."

"Yeah that's a given. What's your point?" Rukia replied.

"It's not dead. Well, you know what I mean. My point is it's going to come back for her some time. Her remembering this will actually give her a chance to be on guard when that happens."

"He's got a point." Sakura, holding her head to stem the bleeding, agreed.

Rukia looked at the braided girl then back to Orihime. "Alright, but the memory wipe will come later."

"Was that really my brother? Was that Sora?" Orihime asked.

"How should I know? I have no idea who any of your family is." Rukia reminded her.

Ichigo looked back to Rinne. "You said these things used to be human but weren't anymore. That thing, if it really was her brother, still remembers her. That thing is still human. And you want me to kill it?"

"Would you rather it kills that girl there? And what if went for your sisters instead? Would you show mercy then?" Rinne asked.

Ichigo could not give an answer.

Rukia was at work reuniting Orihime's spirit with her body. It wasn't easy, but it was easier than going into a gigai thanks to the already existing connection. When it was done, Orihime opened her eyes and struggled to move. "My whole body hurts."

"Well that was no ordinary out-of-body experience." Sakura noted.

"Is it possible to turn Sora back to normal?"

Rukia shook her head. "No, once you become a Hollow there's no way back. All we can do is put them out of their misery. And trust me, if that is your brother, he will come back for you."

"Where did he go?"

* * *

In a desolate world made of desert and despair, an injured serpentine creature had a hand over its face. It looked and sounded like it was trying to fight something, but said something was unclear. The broken part of the skull mask began to grow back, and it grabbed the broken edges like it was trying to stop it. Even break off the rest of the mask if it could.

But removing a Hollow's mask isn't like taking off a bandage. It grew back and the Hollow roared. If anyone or anything was there to hear it, they would have sworn the roar sounded like a word. That word, being Orihime.


End file.
